Current Prime Minister Abe Shinzo appearing on popular TV show, “Waratte ii tomo”.
The Prime Minister of Japan, Abe Shinzo, recently appeared on the long-running TV show, “Waratte ii tomo” [It’s OK To Laugh]. He is the first serving Prime Minister to appear on the show, which recently announced that it would cease broadcasting after 32 years.
Abe appeared on the “Telephone Shocking” segment on the show, where the host, Tamori, gets his guest to call another famous friend and invite them on to appear on the next show. Abe was in fact introduced to the show by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
But when the Prime Minister arrived in central Tokyo for his live broadcast, he was greeted by a throng of protestors carrying placards that said “It’s OK To Quit” (a pun on the show’s title), as well as signs that read “Facist” and portrayed Abe as Adolf Hitler. The protestors are thought to be discontent with Abe’s intended revision of the Japanese constitution.
Netizens largely denounced the protest, and thought Abe’s appearance on the show was harmless.
From Yahoo! Japan:
“It’s OK To Quit” : Commotion Near Shinjuku’s ALTA Building As PM Abe Appears Live On “It’s OK To Laugh”
Near the back entrance of Studio Alta, through which Prime Minister Abe entered and exited the building, a crowd holding placards saying “It’s OK for Abe Shinzo to quit immediately!” made their criticisms of the Prime Minister heard.
On March 21, the Prime Minister appeared live on Fuji TV’s “It’s OK To Laugh!” [Waratte ii tomo]. This was the first time in that a serving Prime Minister had appeared in the studio on the programme, which has been running for 32 years, and it is somewhat unusual for a Prime Minister to appear on a variety TV show at all. The Prime Minister was in good spirits, flattering the host of the show, Tamori (68), by saying that he was “an intangible cultural treasure”; however, with increases in consumption tax on the horizon, a large crowd of people holding placards that read “It’s OK to quit!” [Yamete ii tomo] gathered around Studio ALTA (Shinjuku, Tokyo), causing a commotion.
Around the back entrance of Studio ALTA, which is on the opposite side to the front entrance that faces JR Shinjuku station, from 12pm when the programme started around 200 people gathered, completely filling the street. Almost all of these people were people who are critical of the PM’s policies, and they shouted angrily, “Is this really the time to be appearing on a variety show?!”. There were also placards that said “It’s OK for Abe Shinzo to quit immediately”. The police cordoned off an area, and there was an atmosphere of strict security, as if at any moment there could be a struggle in the crowd.
At 12:23pm, the Prime Minister walked surrounded a throng of Security Police to a car that had been driven to Yasukuni-dori [road] which is about 30 metres away from the back entrance of the studio. He waved to the people gathered there, but his expression hardened when he was bombarded with calls to “resign!”.
Along with this being the first time that a serving Prime Minister has appeared on the show, the programme also interrupted a planned segment when the Prime Minister arrived to go into the “Telephone Shocking” segment that the Prime Minister was to appear on. At 12:26, a light started flashing in the studio signaling that the Prime Minister had arrived, and at 12:29, the Prime Minister appeared carrying his nameplate.
The TV station increased the number of security personnel, and there were even a lot of security police on alert in the studio. The atmosphere was different from usual; the host Tamori was astounded, saying “The security police are really something”, and laughed about the flowers that had been delivered “On behalf of the LDP Youth Bureau”, saying “That’s the first time I’ve seen something like that!”.
It appears that with consumption tax rises from April, and with the debate over constitutional revision on the horizon, the aim is to give the impression of the Prime Minister as someone who is approachable. The appearance lasted until 12:47pm, for a total of 18 minutes. During the broadcast, Tamori, who has presented the show for 32 years, asked the Prime Minister, “Haven’t you ever thought of giving up halfway through?”. When Tamori said to the Prime Minister, “Let’s go for a drink soon”, the Prime Minister replied, “Absolutely. I’d like to ask you the secret of your longevity”, as though he was asking for instructions on how to make his administration last.
▼ Asagawa Hirotada, political commentator: “It is usually unthinkable for a Prime Minister to appear on a variety show. There is the possibility that the economy will suffer setbacks due to the increase in consumption tax, and I wonder if the aim of this wasn’t to stop approval ratings slumping before the change. When the Prime Minister’s approval rating drops, it’s easy for criticism of things like the right to collective self-defence to come even from within the party itself. Furthermore, there are bound to be those who object to Abe appearing on a variety programme rather than a news programme. Members of the Kisha Club [association of journalists] have remarked that “it’s strange the Prime Minister is only appearing of Fuji TV”, and we have to be aware that things might not necessarily turn out as the Prime Minister wishes.”
From Itai News:
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
デリケートゾーン:
The Diet is out of session, so who cares what his intention is?
Actually, those people in groups that treat others like fascists are the ones who are strange.
They’re the ones who are the “ideologues” I think.
deg*****:
This was clearly a performance, but it doesn’t seem disagreeable to me.
Probably he just wanted to wish Tamori well after running the show for so long.
表示名を取得できませんでしたＺ:
He was showing his respect for Tamori’s long-standing achievements.
Colorado Bulldog:
Those opposition groups make me sick.
Below are the placards that were seen:
“Abe Shinzo will go to war! x3”
“Fascist”
“It’s OK for Abe to quit!”
Stuff like that, people standing there shouting, holding placards with one hand and giving the finger with the other.
And then making sure on Twitter that they appeal to people by writing “We are ordinary people”.
No, no, because ordinary people don’t give the finger as they shout (笑). And they don’t use words like fascist either.
When I had a good look at the pictures, SURPRISE!
Weren’t these the placards used by the Racists Shit-Back Crew in Shinokubo, and in the anti-secrecy law demos and anti nuclear demos?!
Ah, they’re not Japanese at all are they! Good, so glad! Alright then. Good bye!
削除されたコメントです。:
Shouldn’t we just send the “shit back crew” back to the old peninsula? [ie Korea]
Japanese people “ii tomo!” [“That’s OK”; echoing the show’s catchphrase]
☆普通の名前がいい☆:
He made a good impression as one of us, a Japanese citizen…
What’s wrong with that…
mon*****:
No one complained when he appeared on Takajin’s “Soko made itte iinkai” [a weekly conservative news discussion programme based in Kansai].
But these days the whole nation is complaining online.
i51*****:
“t appears that with consumption tax rises from April, and with the debate over constitutional revision on the horizon, the aim is to give the impression of the Prime Minister as someone who is approachable.”
I wonder if the audience who watched him a variety programme really think like that?
o10*****:
This just means that “Ii tomo” is such an amazing show.
Once we knew it was going to end, that’s when we realised it was even greater!
kur*****:
He probably improved his image by showing that he is a normal person.
Kimtaku’s image on the other hand, is now worse.
Comments from 2ch.net:
名無しさん:
I don’t understand the why they’re criticising Abe as a fascist.
Do they even know what the word fascist means?
名無しさん:
Too vulgar. I literally vommed.
名無しさん:
I have no idea what the probably very small number of Japanese people in that group are trying to protect.
名無しさん:
The gooks are the ones kicking up a fuss.
名無しさん:
Ugly left wingers, good job on sacrificing your holidays w
Well done to the police (｀･ω･´)ゞ.
名無しさん:
Wasn’t this an illegal gathering?
It’s pretty frightening that it’s only over something like this.
What are the security police and the authorities doing?
名無しさん:
Arrest the lot of ’em.
The police are too soft.
りらっくだ◆:
What idiots……
名無しさん:
Tera-chaos wwwwwwwwwwwwww [“Tera-chaos” is a word used on 2ch to indicate complete chaos using the prefix “tera”, as in “terabyte” and the English word “chaos”.]
名無しさん:
They don’t give a damn about character assassination of others do they…
So frightening.
名無しさん:
Isn’t this what they call hate speech?
What happened to all the members of the Diet who said that this should be strictly regulated?
